This is the summer of me breaking things and I hope it’s about through. It seems like once you get in a cycle of things falling apart it just keeps going. Here’s a little list for ya.

2 cell phones, 2 guitar speakers, 1 guitar amp, 1 busted Les Paul head stock. Head ache priceless!!

I wish I were rich when things break so I could throw them away and just buy something new. I know, I know I’m really shallow, but you’ve all been there. You know the times in life when it feels like everything is falling apart and you can’t catch a break. Anyone else ever feel like that?

I hate being inconsistent especially when it comes to my relationship with Christ. It’s funny that the most important relationship I have, gets put on the back burner most of the time. I can’t just put my marriage on hold and get back to it when I have the time. I have to constantly be listening and communicating with Laura, finding out what she needs from me. If I put that relationship with her on hold I might find myself alone one day.

Why is it that I feel like I can give God my left over time? Or I’ll have a real encounter with the Lord and feel like he’s trying to do something new in my life and just drop the ball after awhile. I hate that and I’m not really sure how to get out of that rut. Sometimes we talk about God’s grace and mercy so much that I wonder if we use that as an excuse to be flippant with our faith. I do believe that God’s grace is huge but I don’t want to cheapen it either. Maybe I’m being too honest but it is what it is and God still has a lot of work to do on me.

Friday Laura and I set out to Missouri and it turned out to be a pretty eventful day. We drove through Jonesboro Illinois were and admiring the beautiful scenery. The gps was taking us down this old country roads we’re you felt like you were back in time. We ran across this old house and church. 

Then these beautiful little country roads got us in trouble. We had to cross the Mississippi and the road was washed out. We had to leave Jonesboro and head to St. Louis, witch was a nice little 60 mile detour. Then if that wasn’t bad enough, we hit one of the worst storms I’ve ever driven through. Laura handled the car like a champ but she was a little freaked out and I can’t blame her. That storm could have crushed our car like a little coke can. Here’s the pics. Looks like a tornado could drop right out of the sky at any time.

Anyone else have any crazy road stories?

My vox isn’t working for crap right now. It’s bright, brittle and has no head room. I think it’s broken because I’ve played on other vox amps that sound awesome. It does have the junk speakers that come in the new ones. I’m seriously tired of fighting with these amps. I played on a Divided by 13 today and it just sang to me. It was bright, warm and punchy. It was the FTR37 through a 2×12 cab loaded with blue alinco speakers. There’s part of me that just thinks it would be more responsible to fix the vox and change speakers and I think I’ll try that first. If anyone has a divided by thirteen they don’t want anymore, give me a shout.

I’ve been reading Mathew 5 lately and have become convinced that I could spend the rest of my life working on this chapter. If I were told to memorize one chapter because my bible would be taken from me, Mathew 5 would be it hands down. I stopped on blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth and I looked up the word meek, quiet, gentle and easily imposed on. I realized that I’m hardly any of those things, in fact I’m quite the opposite most of the time. How bout the whole part about loving our enemies?! I stink at that too and I have to admit, that doesn’t sound like an exciting thing to learn. Jesus teaches a lot of hard things in this chapter. I always thought of the beatitudes as this cute little thing we learned in sunday school as children. Nothing cute and easy about the beatitudes These attitudes go against how most of us are wired. I only hope that by the end of my life with much time and season, that I can be more like Jesus.

Anyone else have any books or scriptures that really hit them like this? 

I’ve been turning into the biggest guitar tone geek, I spend hours thinking about how to make it better. I’ve been rocking the samamp for a quite some time now and it just isn’t working for me anymore. So I pulled the AC 30 back out yesterday and it just freakin screams, I love the sound of a loud vox at teeth shattering volumes. Hopefully this keeps me happy for a while and I don’t have to keep changing gear

Oh cell phones, it’s a love hate relationship. I have to have one but hate paying for it. Last week mine finally broke but it still worked, if that makes any sort of since The hinge broke and it was hanging on by one little copper wire. I had to leave it open on the hotel desk and run up every couple of hours to check for missed calls or texts. I lasted a whole week with it in this condition. I always brake cell phones, someone needs to make a Jimmie proof cell phone. I could buy 1 or 2 guitars a year for what I spend on my cell bill every year. I think only guitar players think in those terms

This week has been tough for some reason. I just feel like I’m stuck in a weird funk that I can’t seem to shake. It’s hard to get inspired to do anything positive right now. I think I started this week off on a bad foot because I’ve been complaining about the beach all week a long with a hand full of other things. Sometimes I let things get on my nerves that shouldn’t. Like teenagers are awkward and don’t always think before they speak, I know it sounds like a lot of us, but it’s a whole other level It’s hard to answer “Hey are you albino or Hey is that your natural hair color?!” so many times without being a jerk. I even got tone advice from a kid last night, he had to let me know that my guitar gave feedback and that he didn’t think it sounded good. I’m glad he told me since I wasn’t paying attention to what I was doing, I would have never known if he hadn’t pointed it out to me Sorry for the sarcasm.

God’s really using this summer to teach me about becoming more secure in myself and showing grace. It’s freaking tough though. I just have to remember, I was awkward once and still put my foot in my mouth quite often, I’ve just learned to do it with style now:) 

Anyone else ever get hit with their insecurities like that?

I know it’s only been a few days that we’ve been apart, but I miss Laura. She’s my best friend and my favorite person to be around. I can tell her anything and trust her with it. Even if I’m wrong, she listens intently and is understanding. She’s smart enough to let me figure out if I’m wrong or not. She just listens and doesn’t freak out when I change my mind or opinion. Truth be told, she probably knows me better than I do. She’s a great sounding board. The more time we spend together, the more I could do without the road. I don’t mind weekends but any longer than that and I get moody I think me leaving on the weekends keeps us from driving each other crazy!! haha. I guess in one since the road keeps me thankful for her, so it’s bitter sweet with the road thing. Oh well, as I always say, it’s all apart of the gig baby, laura hates when say that. haha

So the other day I was looking at bikes and keeping my eyes open for a girl bike. I want to get Laura a chick beach cruiser so we can ride together. So I stumbled across a killer one, leather seat, leather handle bar grips, aqua blue with white wall tires and white accents paint. Laura and this bike together would be super HOT!! I was trying to tell her about it and the first thing she asked was, how much. I told her and she said that’s to much without letting me tell her about the bike. Once I explained that frustrated me, she said I was right and to continue explaining the bike.

First let me say, Laura is awesome with money and I suck. I’m glad I have her to balance me with that and that she’d rather give it away than waste it. She ROCKS!! BUT, I really like to take care of her and treat her like a queen, so sometimes that means spending to much money on date night or talking her into buying a dress that costs more than she’d like to spend. She’s mine and she deserves the best of me and what I have to give.

I began to think, I wonder how much God wants to bless us and we ask how much does it cost. We’ve seen such abuse with televangelist and hyper charismatic preachers that we go polar opposite. We or at least I  don’t want anything from God then, because I want be selfish. Jesus said if you, being evil know how to give good gifts how much does your father in heaven want to give you good gifts. I want to ask and expect good gifts from the father. 

Not in a greedy way but in a way that I can see God at work in my life. So don’t go miss quoting me or thinking I’m falling off the deep end. Let me know your thoughts